Judging by the date of my last post, it has been a month now since my last update. I apologise to those of you who have noticed their absence but I am sure that you are in the minority.
So, what has happened since the summer teaching season came to a close? Well, we now have two, yes two, days off per week and the teaching hours have dropped back to normal levels. The resultant effect is that, as I am not starting at nine o'clock every morning, I am spending more on food and beer. This is good news for the local supermarkets and restaurants but bad news for my pocket.
I hate to have to mention it again, as I know that the weather in England has been awful, but the weather here continues to be fantastic and the rainy season appears to have come to an end, although it is a little cooler now in the evenings - I had to wear a jumper with my t-shirt and shorts on Tuesday - and there is never really a 'dry' season, so there is still occasional rain.
Managing to get to grips with the money is difficult here. We earn a reasonable wage for the area in which we are based but you really need to be fluent in Chinese in order to take advantage of the cheaper options which are available. This means that most of my shopping is done at the larger stores, which are not far off western pricing. As my Chinese improves, however, I am sure that life will become cheaper. I have already found one restaurant, near to the apartment, where I can manage to order a couple of dishes I like, that is not expensive.
Anyway, duty calls, I have lesson plans to finish before the weekend madness begins, so my best wishes to all at home and I will try not to leave it so long until the next post.
